Discussions By Condition: I cannot get a diagnosis.

Help for my elderly aunt please

My aunt is 82 yrs old. 2 yrs ago, she fell and broke her tailbone. 6 months ago she had a pacemaker put in. She is now constantly complaining that her right foot and leg stay cold and numb. It bothers her to the point that she goes to the hospital alot. The only thing I have heard as far as a diagnosis is neuropathy. I'm wondering if all the different medications could be causing it. I read about Raynaud's Phenomenon which causes symptoms like hers. She has also lost about 40 lbs over the last year. She says she takes so many pills that she's just not hungry. She lives 540 miles away from me but I am worried enough that I am going to go spend a week with her this Sunday.If anyone has any ideas of what else I can check, please let me know.

2 Replies:

My aunt is 82 yrs old. 2 yrs ago, she fell and broke her tailbone. 6 months ago she had a pacemaker put in. She is now constantly complaining that her right foot and leg stay cold and numb. It bothers her to the point that she goes to the hospital alot. The only thing I have heard as far as a diagnosis is neuropathy. I'm wondering if all the different medications could be causing it. I read about Raynaud's Phenomenon which causes symptoms like hers. She has also lost about 40 lbs over the last year. She says she takes so many pills that she's just not hungry. She lives 540 miles away from me but I am worried enough that I am going to go spend a week with her this Sunday.If anyone has any ideas of what else I can check, please let me know.metformin - for diabetes, causes neuropathy - is she on that? there is a protocol for reversing neuropathy -- go to the 'Vitamin B12 deficiency is frequently misdiagnosed' topic here weight loss can be caused by low copper - which also causes hyperthyroid, bone loss, and aneurism. get a tyroid panel test including TSH and FREE T3. Best place to check copper status is a hair anaylsis via traceelements.com (they don't wash the hair sample so it is accurate) I do not know what else causes weight loss -- only IMHO when people lose weight w/o trying, they die. So this is the most serious symptom. Estrogen helps you absorb copper and she's long past that so likely low. There is a study on copper regarding osteoporosis. You can find it by googling: Lowe copper Cambridge

She is now constantly complaining that her right foot and leg stay cold and numb that doesnt sound like Raynauds. Raynauds usually affects the extrematories (sp?) eg fingers, toes, tips of nose and causes cold and numbness in those places. I used to get it and it changes the color of my fingers so i end up with red finger down to a joint or end up with certain fingers looking like they are bloodless in places. If i get it bad, I struggle to do things with my hands eg drive car, pick up things.. due to the loss of feeling in fingers.